This archive report was first published on 1 October 2019.
Prostate cancer is the leading type of cancer affecting men in Kenya, with close to 3,000 men diagnosed with the condition each year, according to the World Health Organisation's GLOBOCAN report.
While treatment for prostate cancer typically involves surgery and radiotherapy, the latter comes with adverse side effects such as rectal bleeding and urinary leakage.
However, a recent study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) offers some good news on how to approach prostate cancer treatment.
The research trial, known as RADICALS-RT, enrolled 1,396 patients who had undergone surgery for prostate cancer from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, and Ireland.
Some of the men were subjected to post-operative radiotherapy, while others were put under observation, with radiotherapy kept as an option only if the disease recurred.
After a five-year follow-up, the results demonstrated that men with prostate cancer could be spared radiotherapy after surgery.
According to Dr Chris Parker, the first author of the study, the findings suggest that radiotherapy is equally effective whether it is given to all men shortly after surgery or given later with recurrent disease.
He stated, "The good news is that in future, many men will avoid the side-effects of radiotherapy, including urinary leakage and narrowing of the urethra, which can make urination difficult."
